BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Juan Roberto Rincon-Rincon, a high ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, has been convicted on all counts as charged in a large drug trafficking conspiracy, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. The jury returned its verdict just a short time ago after seven days of trial and less than two hours of deliberation.
Rincon, 41, from Matamoros, Mexico, was convicted of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute as well as conspiracy to import into the United States more than five kilograms of cocaine and 1000 kilograms of marijuana from January 2002 until his capture on Oct. 26, 2011. Evidence at trial proved that more than 5,000 kilograms of marijuana was seized in representative seizures by Border Patrol during the months of September and October 2011 when Rincon-Rincon was proven to be the Plaza Boss of Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. During his time in that leadership role, the money derived from the Gulf Cartel was more than $20 million. As the plaza boss, which is the lead representative for the Gulf Cartel in a particular region or town, Rincon-Rincon, aka Primo or X-5, was in charge of maintaining control to ensure safe passage of the Cartel’s narcotics and ensuring no narcotics pass through his area of responsibility without his approval or knowledge.
For more than a decade, Rincon-Rincon was a close associate of Jorge Eduardo Costilla, aka El Coss, who has been the head of the Gulf Cartel drug trafficking organization since the capture of Osiel Cardenas-Guillen in March 2003. Costilla, also charged in this district, was arrested by Mexican authorities two weeks ago
